speak English.
Diana drew a garden of yellow flowers and put a big red castle behind it, with orange towers and a blue dragon. Anna Maria and Yasmin were awestruck by this artwork and struggled to copy it. José leaned forward in his stroller to watch. Then he sucked on his bottle some more.
When Diana left to run an errand, Anna Maria carefully slipped the three best crayons into her pocket. When they got home, they would each have a crayon.
Behind Anna Maria sat perhaps a dozen patients waiting to be seen. With them were family members or neighbors who had driven them over, or followed the ambulance. Lots of people took the ambulance even if they weren’t hurt very much. They didn’t have taxi money, and anybody knew that the doctors saw you faster if you came by ambulance.
Although tonight that did not seem to be the case.
Half the patients waiting had come by ambulance and nobody was calling them back for treatment.
“Hey! Nurse!” yelled a man on Anna Maria’s left. “How long I gotta wait here? I been waiting here an hour.” His voice lurched a little. He was drunk. Anna Maria managed to scope him out without actually looking in his direction. Unshaven, clothes needing a wash, he had the look of street drunks — angry, confused, potentially dangerous.
“It’s busy,” the nurse told him. “There are no beds back there.”
“I don’t care about beds!” The man did not swear, but only because the security guard had straightened up and was staring at him. “They can see me in the hall. Get me in there! Stop screwing around!”
The security guard wandered over.
Anna Maria looked hard at her little sister, and Yasmin obediently changed sides of the table, farther away from the drunk.
The nurse was bored. She had to say this a dozen times a night. “I’m sorry, sir, this is an Emergency Room. We don’t see patients in the order they arrive. We see them according to how dangerous their situation is.”
“My ankle hurts!’ the man bellowed. “You been lettin’ people in there all night but you ain’t lettin’ me in. I gotta die before you look at me?”
The security guard leaned against the wall, right where Yasmin had been sitting. Anna Maria rolled José’s stroller closer to the table.
“Since when is a twisted ankle life threatening?” said the nurse. “We’ve got a motorcycle accident coming in. They will be seen first.”
“So how long you tellin’ me I gotta wait?” The man left his seat and staggered toward the nurse. He bumped hard against Anna Maria’s seat. “Huh? How long? Don’t tell me no lies. How long?”
The security guard walked next to the guy.
The two fat gossiping women one row away said to Anna Maria, “Little girl, where’s yo’ mama at? Who you here with?”
Anna Maria smiled widely and pretended not to speak English.
She knew the fat women were worried about her, but this was not the time for somebody to get involved. This was the time to be invisible.
A burst of laughter rattled out of the television on the wall, and the fat women were distracted.
Anna Maria sneaked a look around to make sure nobody else was wondering where her mama was at.
Nobody was.
Routes 14-A and I-95 6:50 p.m.
W ITH DIFFICULTY, THE AMBULANCE crew hauled the bike off the teenage boy and exchanged glances. Nothing would be said in front of the patient, but this was a “lock and load.” No fancy stuff. They had to get this kid in the ambulance and reach the hospital fast.
They turned the boy over, slid him onto a backboard, and then set the backboard on the narrow stretcher. Heavy cervical collars were put around the boy’s neck, to prevent movement. Lifting the stretcher up into the ambulance, the men grunted at the weight, but braced themselves and held steady, trying not to tilt the boy, which would just scare him more. His heart was already racing like a house afire.
The stretcher slid into place and the floor locks automatically snapped onto the stretcher wheels,
Diana drew a garden of yellow flowers and put a big red castle behind it, with orange towers and a blue dragon. Anna Maria and Yasmin were awestruck by this artwork and struggled to copy it. José leaned forward in his stroller to watch. Then he sucked on his bottle some more.
When Diana left to run an errand, Anna Maria carefully slipped the three best crayons into her pocket. When they got home, they would each have a crayon.
Behind Anna Maria sat perhaps a dozen patients waiting to be seen. With them were family members or neighbors who had driven them over, or followed the ambulance. Lots of people took the ambulance even if they weren’t hurt very much. They didn’t have taxi money, and anybody knew that the doctors saw you faster if you came by ambulance.
Although tonight that did not seem to be the case.
Half the patients waiting had come by ambulance and nobody was calling them back for treatment.
“Hey! Nurse!” yelled a man on Anna Maria’s left. “How long I gotta wait here? I been waiting here an hour.” His voice lurched a little. He was drunk. Anna Maria managed to scope him out without actually looking in his direction. Unshaven, clothes needing a wash, he had the look of street drunks — angry, confused, potentially dangerous.
“It’s busy,” the nurse told him. “There are no beds back there.”
“I don’t care about beds!” The man did not swear, but only because the security guard had straightened up and was staring at him. “They can see me in the hall. Get me in there! Stop screwing around!”
The security guard wandered over.
Anna Maria looked hard at her little sister, and Yasmin obediently changed sides of the table, farther away from the drunk.
The nurse was bored. She had to say this a dozen times a night. “I’m sorry, sir, this is an Emergency Room. We don’t see patients in the order they arrive. We see them according to how dangerous their situation is.”
“My ankle hurts!’ the man bellowed. “You been lettin’ people in there all night but you ain’t lettin’ me in. I gotta die before you look at me?”
The security guard leaned against the wall, right where Yasmin had been sitting. Anna Maria rolled José’s stroller closer to the table.
“Since when is a twisted ankle life threatening?” said the nurse. “We’ve got a motorcycle accident coming in. They will be seen first.”
“So how long you tellin’ me I gotta wait?” The man left his seat and staggered toward the nurse. He bumped hard against Anna Maria’s seat. “Huh? How long? Don’t tell me no lies. How long?”
The security guard walked next to the guy.
The two fat gossiping women one row away said to Anna Maria, “Little girl, where’s yo’ mama at? Who you here with?”
Anna Maria smiled widely and pretended not to speak English.
She knew the fat women were worried about her, but this was not the time for somebody to get involved. This was the time to be invisible.
A burst of laughter rattled out of the television on the wall, and the fat women were distracted.
Anna Maria sneaked a look around to make sure nobody else was wondering where her mama was at.
Nobody was.
Routes 14-A and I-95 6:50 p.m.
W ITH DIFFICULTY, THE AMBULANCE crew hauled the bike off the teenage boy and exchanged glances. Nothing would be said in front of the patient, but this was a “lock and load.” No fancy stuff. They had to get this kid in the ambulance and reach the hospital fast.
They turned the boy over, slid him onto a backboard, and then set the backboard on the narrow stretcher. Heavy cervical collars were put around the boy’s neck, to prevent movement. Lifting the stretcher up into the ambulance, the men grunted at the weight, but braced themselves and held steady, trying not to tilt the boy, which would just scare him more. His heart was already racing like a house afire.
The stretcher slid into place and the floor locks automatically snapped onto the stretcher wheels,
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